The following blog post is provided by Chris Syme, former CoSIDA New Media Committee Chair and a strategic and social media communications strategist and consultant. You can see more of Syme's work on
her website and follow her on
Twitter.
Her new e-book,
Practice Safe Social: How to Use Social Media Responsibly to Protect Your Reputation and Build Loyalty, is available now at Amazon.com. Chris also authored an earlier e-book where she outlines the best ways to handle real-time crisis communications (
Listen, Engage, Respond).
See blog post online
While social media managers are busy busting their brains trying to figure out the latest, greatest content strategy. Lee Oden of TopRank reminds us that it’s not about the moment, it’s about the bigger picture story. One look at the the University of California at Santa Barbara’s athletics website and you know they get it.
Today’s content producers can get too focused in on short-term platform strategies, searching for ways to get fans more involved in liking, sharing, posting, and commenting for social media success. We forget that fans need a larger story for long-term engagement.
Oden says, “Therein lies one of the most profound misconceptions about being active on the social web as an individual or even as a brand: It’s not the single social post that matters, it’s the story that evolves out of the cumulative experience.”
In sports, this is particularly important. The narrative of today’s accomplishments is cemented by tradition. Sports fans love their history—that’s the base of their fandom.
The UCSB website capitalizes on their fans’ thirst for tradition and remembrance. One of the most visible tabs on this website is labeled “Our Stories.” One click on the tab takes the visitor to ten hallmark stories that range from a heartwarming video and narrative about super fan Phil Womble to the 2011 mens volleyball team run to the national championship match.
A couple things stand out. First, the variety and narrative of the stories. The story on “Soccer Heaven” isn’t focused solely on the wins and losses of the program, but gives a hat tip to the gorgeous venue and the fans. It’s not your typical sports narrative:
UCSB is renowned nationally for an exciting brand of soccer, perfect weather and a soccer-crazed community. Head men’s soccer coach Tim Vom Steeg’s has built the Gauchos into one of the nation’s most prominent college soccer programs — with nine successive NCAA tournament appearances, two College Cup title-game appearances and the 2006 national championship.
UCSB fans have celebrated wins at 17,000-seat Meredith Field at Harder Stadium in droves since 2004, owning NCAA attendance records and leading the nation annually in total and average attendance (over 6,000 per match). Harder has seen four crowds of over 10,000-plus including 15,896 for a showdown with UCLA in 2010 shattering the NCAA on-campus record by almost 5,000.
All this winning is being done in a venue nestled between vistas of mountains and the shoreline of the Pacific Ocean.
Each of the ten stories is accompanied by a YouTube-hosted video. The website is worth a look: stuff you can copy.
I close with another link on the importance of storytelling from Marketing Profs—a piece called “There’s Content in Your Pocket: 10 Marketing Lessons From Dr. Seuss." Good reminders that stories form the base of engagement.